(Turkic), an outdated measure of length which was used in a number of countries, (Bulgaria, Afghanistan, Russia, Turkey, and Iran) before the introduction of the metric system. The arshin was first used in Russia in the 16th century. Originally the arshin equaled 27 English inches; during the reign of Peter I, the length of an arshin was established at 28 inches and remained unchanged. 1 arshin = 16 vershoks = 71.12 cm.
The length of an arshin in different countries varies from 65.2 cm to 112 cm.